Ulcerative Colitis and Pregnancy: Amanda’s Challenges

As someone who’s lived with ulcerative colitis for more than two-thirds of her life (24 years, to be exact), I’m no stranger to health issues. Despite this, I consider myself fortunate that even though I’ve had more than my share of flare-ups (diarrhea, urgent bowel movements, bloody stools), I’ve been able to manage my ulcerative colitis through a combination of oral medications, suppositories and enemas. However, when I found myself living with recurrent pregnancy loss I felt lost in a strange world.

Starting a Family

My husband, Patrick, and I had been together for more than four years before we were married in the summer of 2006. We knew we wanted to start a family, so after a few months we “pulled the goalie” and decided to let nature take its course.

Nature was a little slower than I preferred, but after six months I found myself pregnant with our first child. The pregnancy wasn’t easy — plagued by recurrent and continuous spotting — but multiple ultrasounds over the course of many months confirmed the baby was doing just fine — until week 35, when my water broke.

Upon arriving at the hospital, we learned that the baby’s heart didn’t sound quite right, so an emergency C-section was performed and out came our 5-pound 3-ounce daughter, Annabelle, who quickly outgrew the premature atrial contractions (PACs) she faced at birth.

Six months later I was pregnant again. Not quite an oops, we just didn’t think it would happen that quickly. This pregnancy progressed smoothly until 29 weeks when the doctors grew concerned I might again experience premature labor. Claire was born at 36 weeks, weighing a healthy 6 pounds and 13 ounces.

We had two little girls, 14 months apart. Everyone said, “Oh look, now your family is complete, and so quickly.” My husband, an only child, was content with two children but I’d always dreamed of having three. We debated, we talked, I obsessed – until finally when Claire was three years old, we agreed to pull the goalie again and see where life took us. A new gastroenterologist told me she thought my pregnancies resulted in premature births because of my ulcerative colitis and the flare-ups that occurred just prior to both C-sections, but said we’d address those problems if we got there.

By May 2012 I was pregnant again. Almost immediately I knew something was wrong with this pregnancy. I didn’t feel right; I had a pretty bad colitis flare, then developed an eye allergy, followed by an allergic reaction to Benadryl. Within a week, I started bleeding. Two ultrasounds showed heart beats but they were inconsistent, and within a few days, a third ultrasound showed the pregnancy had been reabsorbed into my body. I was devastated, but had little time to think about it because I developed MRSA two days later.

The obstetrician said the miscarriage was a fluke and “more common than most would think,” so we waited a few months and tried again.

Fast-forward to October 2012. I was newly pregnant, felt great and life was good. However, again at the seven-week mark, I went to the hospital for an ultrasound and immediately knew after looking at the faces of the technician and radiologist that there was a problem. They couldn’t find a fetus, so they asked me to go upstairs to the obstetrician’s office and wait.

I spent two long hours waiting for my obstetrician, as it was a busy day with lots of births for their practice. As time progressed, the pain grew worse until I couldn’t bear it anymore and couldn’t stop crying. My obstetrician said she couldn’t send me home in so much pain, so she scheduled an emergency laparoscopic surgery to take a look.

I woke up four hours later in recovery to learn that I had had an ectopic pregnancy. My fallopian tube had ruptured into my retro-peritoneal cavity – something none of her colleagues had ever seen. I lost my left tube, along with quite a bit of blood. After two days in the hospital, I was ready to head home to recover and grieve. I know how fortunate I am to have two little girls, so I knew I had to turn these early losses into good. With the help of some wonderful social workers, I knew how I wanted to do that.

Helping Educate After Loss

Newton-Wellesley Hospital’s childbirth and pregnancy loss program, part of the HEAL (Helping Educate After Loss) program, provides resources to families dealing with the loss of a baby. They are there as a practical guide and emotional comfort in the days and months following a loss.

Each spring, the HEAL Program holds a Babies Remembered Memorial Service at Newton-Wellesley Hospital dedicated to families grieving pregnancy and infant losses. The service includes music, messages of love and remembrance, candle lighting, parent speakers, a reading of the names and additional presentations.

I wasn’t able to attend last year’s service, but this year I’ve been involved from the beginning and am planning on taking a more active role.

I was in a good place with my family of four. I had painfully but willingly relinquished my dream of having three children, only to find out in September that I am pregnant again! I’m hopeful that I’ll be eight months pregnant for this year’s service!

Life is what happens when you’re busy making plans…and I’ve learned it’s the ones you don’t expect that have the greatest impact.

Amanda Griffith lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters, Annabelle and Claire.

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